New job ad indicates Bose may be secretly working on a music streaming service

Bose is already a big name in the world of audio, but the company may have your ears in mind in more ways than one as it plans to take itself into the cloud. Bose recently released a job ad in search of a Senior User Experience Designer (SUED) for a yet-to-be announced cloud music service.

The service appears to be in its infancy, according to details in the job posting. The core of the music service has not been developed yet as the job posting asks for the prospective designer to help “establish feature and system requirements.” The service almost certainly have a mobile component because, 1) everything is mobile these days, and 2) the job listing places mobile as a “cross-platform environment” the prospective designer would be developing.

It appears Bose is not creating the new service a glorified add-on, but a true competitor to streaming giants such as Spotify, and Pandora. The ad describes the ideal candidate as someone who has worked for Spotify, Pandora, Apple’s Beats Music, and a panoply of other music streaming services.

Services such as iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, CalmRadio and hotelradio.fm, which boast radio functionalities as their central service, were also named, suggesting Bose’s cloud music service could include a radio feature. The company’s SoundTouch 20 multi-room speaker systems also include a proprietary internet radio app.

Bose’s adoption of its own music streaming service could help the company draw customers to its multi-room speaker ecosystem, which competes with the unofficial king of multi-room speakers, Sonos. Back in October, Bose became the exclusive U.S. provider of Deezer Premium+ through its SoundTouch™ Wi-Fi music systems. The news came just a month after Deezer’s CD-quality streaming service, Deezer Elite, debuted in the U.S. exclusively via Sonos speakers.

The job posting appeared on ZipRecruiter’s website two days before Bose products returned to Apple Stores after a two month long hiatus. The removal was rumored to have occurred due to an ongoing feud over Bose headphones and speakers, and Apple’s newly acquired Beats headphones. The two have battled it out both in the courtroom, and in the court of public opinion.

While Bose and Apple settled their legal dispute privately, Bose’s possible jump into music streaming would once again put the companies in direct competition, specifically with Apple’s Beats Music streaming service, which could once again fan the flames between the contentious pair.

Perhaps more relevant is the question as to whether or not there is room for one more contender in the saturated streaming market. Even with the backing of one of the most powerful companies in the world, Beats Music has struggled to compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify.

We may find out soon enough whether or not Bose’s new service has what it takes to make its way in the streaming world, as the service should begin to take shape in the coming months.